The doors are new: automatic open. Fancy. That has changed since Aidan was here last. The first thing he notices are the sparse rows of books - when he'd been younger, smaller, the shelves seemed to never end, teeming with books of all shapes and sizes...
***
A faded list.
Nine favourite stories.
For two strangers, friendship is only a page away . . .
When Mukesh Patel pops to the local library, forgoing his routine of grocery shopping and David Attenborough documentaries, he has no idea his life’s about to change.
He meets Aleisha, a reluctant librarian and the keeper of a curious reading list – just a scrappy piece of paper with the names of 9 stories. It doesn’t seem anything special. Yet something tells her to keep it close . . .
Story by story, Mukesh and Aleisha work their way through the list – their worries slipping away with every encounter, with every world discovered in their unlikely book club of two.
A fresh chance at life, at friendship, wasn’t on the cards for these lonely souls – but every story starts somewhere . . .
***
This is the perfect book for book lovers, and I enjoyed every word.
It is about the unlikely friendship between the two main characters, Mukesh an elderly man who is recently widowed, and Aleisha a teenager who reluctantly works at the library. It is also about how these two very different people discover themselves and their love of books. When Aleisha discovers a faded list of books tucked away inside one of the library books, she works her way through it and encourages Mukesh to do the same.
The chapters are told from the perspectives of both Mukesh and Aleisha. Both are lonely in their different ways. They are in need of healing and the author does a fantastic job in demonstrating how books can be the conduit to do so.
The entire novel is a love letter to books, reading and libraries. It is a heartwarming novel that demonstrates how books can bring people together, bridge the generational divide and heal us.
This is a wonderful book, and although it has it's moments of sadness, it is ultimately uplifting and hopeful. It has been beautifully written and I highly recommend it.
ISBN: 978 0008391362
Publisher: Harper Collins
Formats: e-book, audio, hardback and paperback (currently available on Kindle Unlimited)
No. of Pages: 432
About the Author:
Sara Nisha Adams is a writer and editor. She lives in London and was born in Hertfordshire to Indian and English parents. The Reading List was her first novel. The Twilight Garden is her most recent novel.
(all opinions are my own)
(author media courtesy of the publisher)
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